Monday, August 3, 2015

Content Marketing in July 2015

It is summertime, and the living is easy — unless you are trying to juggle an effective content strategy along with vacations, bored kids, and a complete lack of motivation. (If you are one of those people who never struggles with motivation, then good on you. I, however, find it way too easy to get distracted by the internet. And nice weather.)

So, in honor of summer and my slightly lower than average level of motivation, this month’s content marketing roundup will focus on developing content that is more effective so you can spend less time working and more time relaxing.

Editor’s Note: The articles selected are completely objective and listed in no particular order.

5 Obvious Content Marketing Strategies Most Companies Overlook

It is easy to fall into the trap of doing the same thing over and over again. Content marketing is important, and we all know we need to be doing it. But, is what you are doing actually working? Or is it time to try a new strategy? If you are ready to try something new or just want to consider other strategies, then this is a perfect read.

This article by Neil Patel on Content Marketing Institute provides five strategies that will take your content marketing from a plain old blog post to good content that readers actually engage with. Who said nothing gets done in the summer?

Crowdsourcing 101: Propel Your Content Marketing Strategy Forward

The best way to get more done in less time is to get help! Once you have written your super awesome content, how are you going to make sure it actually gets in front of eyeballs?

10 Step Content Marketing Performance Assessment

Figuring out what works is vital to developing a content strategy that actually does something — and the best way to figure out what works is to take a good, hard look at what you are doing now.

This article by Heidi Cohen lays out an easy to follow checklist so you can tell what is working and what is not.

Are you getting any traffic? Is that traffic actually converting? Is the money you are spending worth the money you are earning? Heide gives you a step-by-step assessment to help you figure out what is working and what isn’t.

5 Tools That’ll Make You an Amazing Headline Writer

Headlines are arguably the most important part of any piece of content you develop. In fact, some studies show headlines can change the way we think by creating a strong first impression. That being said, most marketers don’t have the time to spend hours brainstorming and testing strong headlines.
Luckily, there is a nifty list of tools to help you write better headlines. This article by Aaron Taube lists five tools that make writing those eye-catching headlines easier. The list includes tools for testing, analyzing, and even outsourcing.

4 Questions to Help You Generate Epic Content Ideas

There are tons of articles out there about how to generate content ideas. In fact, there are actually generators that were developed solely to help content writers come up with good ideas — and with good reason. Having to come up with ideas over and over again gets draining.

Which is where this article by Chris Lucas comes in. He lists four questions you should be asking yourself before you create content and explains how these questions will help you develop epic content ideas.

Bonus Pick: Will Journalistic Robots Kill Content Marketing?

We’ve got smart homes that can control who comes into your house when you aren’t home, and smart cars that can drive themselves. Are robots that can write next? If you don’t love writing, you are out of luck — robot writers aren’t up to the task quite yet.

Final Thoughts

Are there any articles I missed that you think should be added to this month’s round-up? Please share in the comments section!

Featured Image: Illustration Created by Paulo BobitaAuthor: Danielle Antosz